Insights

Nobody likes contract negotiations (except me). You’re trying to set the tone for the relationship and the last thing you feel like you need is an argument over the fine print in the contract.

More and more agencies are creating new “tracks” for staff who don’t want to (or can’t) manage people. If agencyland reframed the concept of “manager” as “someone who gets results out of other people”, rather than “someone who helps other people with their workloads”, we’d see this trend as more problematic.

Most agencies I've worked with offer some kind of incentive to staff for introducing new business. Some of the team might almost double their salaries with the commissions you might be offering, so why does nobody ever refers their mates to the business development manager?

We're starting to think about our end of year updates to our whole businesses, so let's explore what should be included in that presentation.

When a prospective client is looking to appoint an agency, they must make three investments, not just one. The investments are money, time and change.

Revenue per head is one of the most widely used metrics in agency management. I regularly speak to agency leaders who tell me they are aiming for a revenue per head of £X because a book told them to (you know which one). Let's talk about something better.

Aiming to spend 1 day per week running the business is not a lot of time, so I chaired (or co-chaired) 4 weekly meetings that covered most things within my remit (sales, client service, strategy, operations - including HR and IT - and the general responsibilities of ownership). Here's what they covered.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine asked: “how do you know when it’s time to go it alone?” I’ve now been self-employed for 6 months (for the second time, after starting, growing and selling Rise at Seven) and I think there are 7 boxes you’ll want to tick (most of).

The current economic situation isn’t helping agencies…but it’s affecting some sectors even more profoundly. What do we do when we’re contracted to deliver for a client who sells something the public doesn't want to spend on right now? Or a client who can’t get the inventory?

Many of the agency owners I speak to wish they were free from the day-to-day so that they can focus on the agency’s strategy. They wish they weren’t required in the business, which would allow them to work on the business. But one thing in particular blurs the line between in the business and on the business: clients.